03.24.09
Do Disruptive Companies Listen To Their Customers?
According to an article from Valleywag, Mark Zuckerberg had some not-too-pleasant-sounding things to say about Facebook users:
“He said something like ‘the most disruptive companies don’t listen to their customers.’” Another tipster who has seen the email says Zuckerberg implied that companies were “stupid” for “listening to their customers.” The anti-customer diktat has many Facebook employees up in arms, we hear.
It’s difficult to tell what Zuckerberg’s real tone was, since the above is hearsay. If his point is that a company never has to care about or listen to its customers, he is dead wrong. On the other hand, if he believes that innovation rarely bubbles up from one’s user base, then he is correct. It is the balance between the two forces that makes or breaks a company.
